What Is Uncertain
by Fastern
Summary: TFA Rodimus/Arcee / He had failed his mission, and now both of them would have to pay the price.


**A/N:** Random oneshot with a random subject. Blah, blah, blah. What can I say? It was one in the morning and I was bored. Truth be told, I don't think this thing is that good and the subject matter is horribly TYPICAL of a fanfiction, but I promised ElasticPoodle, so there.

...I'll write something better. Later.

O YAH - this is also a present for ElasticPoodle. I influenced her to like this pairing, so HA.

**Character/s or Pairing:** Subtle Rodimus/Arcee  
><strong>Prompts:** "We'll talk later."

**What Is Uncertain  
><strong>For ElasticPoodle

He knew that he'd failed his mission.

It was supposed to be a simple task. Raid a Decepticon outpost. Standard, really. But that was before most of his platoon had died, hadn't it? That was before it ended up just being him and five others. That was before three of them had died on the dangerous crossing back to Autobot territory…on foot. All of a sudden it was just him and Arcee and the ten thousand Decepticons on their trial. Only instead of continuing their journey, Rodimus found himself sitting in a pool of his own oil, energon, and various bodily fluids he didn't even have names for. He couldn't walk, let alone travel. This war wasn't really turning out to be in his favour. He'd wanted fame and glory and only now did he take the death toll into account.

His injuries were serious. When he'd discussed them with Arcee, who had limited medical knowledge courtesy of Ratchet, she'd tried to make it sound like they only looked bad. Rodimus knew better. Though his viz scanners had been all but knocked out, he could feel the feverish pain that had prevented him from getting a decent recharge. One leg had been ripped apart quite badly and since he couldn't feel the other, he could only assume that it wasn't there anymore. The damage spread along the front and side of his chassis. The slightest movement only made his body scream in agony, leaving him paralyzed.

Arcee had only managed to drag Rodimus into this makeshift shelter because he'd fallen unconscious. He looked up through the hole in the roof, up at the tarnished red sky and the random projectile that flew overhead. While it was nice of her to be concerned for his life, Rodimus was more worried about getting Arcee back to Autobot territory. Naturally she'd insisted that she wasn't going anywhere without him. That was yesterday. They'd argued for a good hour before they decided to get some rest and then pick up the conversation in the morning. When he'd woken up she wasn't there. Since she wouldn't just leave without telling him, Rodimus assumed she'd gone out looking for supplies or help or _something_. Her absence terrified him because she could easily be killed the moment she left these ruins. It wasn't like he was remotely capable of getting up to go look for her – and he certainly wasn't going to risk calling her name – so he could do nothing but lie here with his spark beating madly in his chest.

It was a warzone out there. His current state was proof that anything could happen to you, most of it bad. You could step on a mine. Or get shot down by a passing Decepticon. Or get crushed underneath a collapsing building. Or get caught in crossfire. Or ambushed…

CRASH.

Rodimus jerked. He managed to twist his head enough – gritting his dental plates to endure the throbbing that came with turning his head – to see debris fall nearby him. A heavy, round object bounced down and landed next to him.

It was a head.

Arcee slide down shortly thereafter, just putting away her only operable sword.

He sighed. 'I was half-hoping you'd left me here.'

'Yeah. That's not going to happen.' Arcee scurried over to his position.

'Who's your boyfriend?' Rodimus asked, looking at the head.

'Decepticon scout. He was snooping around and I needed a little exercise. Are you feeling any better?'

'Sure, I feel fine, aside from the fact that my insides are hanging out.'

'That bad?'

'If anything, it's gotten worse.'

He was surprised how calm he sounded when he felt that he was close to falling unconscious again. A dark fog seemed to surround him, making it nearly impossible to even look at Arcee.

'I was look for a transmitter or a search party,' admitted Arcee. 'They have to realize we're missing by now…'

'Maybe so, but that doesn't mean they'll risk sending out someone to look for us. I think we're on our own, which means we have to get back to the Autobots before it's too late.'

'…Rodimus, I hate to say this, but I think I might – '

'Have to leave me here,' Rodimus finished her sentence. Looks like her sense of duty prevailed after all. But that as sure as the Pits didn't make her immune to the emotional torment. He could hear the anguish lacing her every word. 'I understand.'

'I might not get there.'

'I know.'

'They might not send someone back for you.'

'Our mission is more important than our lives,' Rodimus said. 'We're Autobots before anything else. You have to go on without me. This thing is bigger than either of us and if someone doesn't tell the others what the Decepticons are planning, a lot more Autobots will pay the price…I won't last long anyways unless you go ahead.'

'If they don't send someone for you, I'll return,' decided Arcee.

'I don't want – '

'Look, I'll do my duty, then I'll come back. Nothing you say is going to change that.'

She said it so decisively that Rodimus couldn't challenge her.

'I'm going to move you out of sight,' said Arcee.

'Ready when you are,' Rodimus nodded, though his better judgement said otherwise.

Arcee came up behind him and grabbed him from underneath his arms. Without warning she tugged. She only managed to get him a foot because – like any reasonable individual with life-threatening injures – he screamed.

'I wasn't ready!' he exclaimed.

'Sorry,' Arcee whispered. 'Just…try _not_ to do that.'

'No, really, you don't want to draw the Decepticons right to our location?'

She apologized again and rebuked him for being sarcastic. It took all of Rodimus's will to not make a noise while pain shot through his body like a pinball machine. While she struggled to drag him further back into the ruins, Rodimus shut himself down mentally and physically, attempting to block out every movement. It took a few minutes – and several breaks – before she managed to back him up against a wall. Rodimus heard Arcee moving things around to shield him from view.

Minutes ticked by. He sensed her kneeling nearby, patiently waiting for him to recover. Once he composed himself, Rodimus peered up at her blurred figure.

'Okay, I'm going now,' said Arcee.

She sat there.

'…Aren't you going?' Rodimus asked.

'Yeah.'

Arcee disappeared.

She returned just as quickly.

Before Rodimus had time to react, Arcee knelt down and gave him a light kiss. Suspended mere inches from his face, she looked at him sadly.

'We'll talk later,' she assured him.

With that, Arcee hurried away. Rodimus didn't relax until he heard her footsteps disappear, swallowed by the distant sound of bombs dropping on the landscape. He allowed himself to fall unconscious.


End file.
